Couple comments about researching spells:
Unless you're in groups that are fighting high cons for your current level, you probably won't be finding research words until AFTER you hit the level in question. I.e. you won't be soloing stuff that drops level 29 words until you're in your 30s. Quite an annoyance if you're trying to keep your spellbook up to date without relying on other methods of getting words.
Furthermore, research skill is hardcapped by level... to a point where research of spells that you need right now will never be trivial. I.e. you're finally get 1 copy of each word you need to get your newest, coolest spell... then you probably fail the combine even if you HAVE managed to keep research practiced, because you can't trivial that combine until well past the level of the spell.
If you do really want to level research just because, go for it. There are places you'll have better or worse luck finding words, although sorry I'm no help at all for finding necro words. Checking merchants in caster guilds, near banks, or near leveling zones is a great way to find a lot of words too though. Note that even if a merchant seems full of junk, he might actually still have words buried in his non-visible inventory, which will become visible as you buy up stuff that is listed off his inventory. This can be expensive, but some items resell very well (gems, jewelry, etc) or are very cheap (rat whiskers and whatnot) and it can be worth doing this sometimes. Other players might be a source of words, again especially if you're trying to buy them in an appropriate leveling zone.
I assume intelligence affects your chance of getting a skill up on a combine, so wearing all the int gear you can find and/or getting an int buff from a chanter, then doing a bunch of combines all at once, might be a good idea for grinding skill up. Not really sure if this is a thing or how much of a thing it is, but it was typical "common knowledge" stuff I think.
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